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An individual was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and has had his prison sentence raised to a decade.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

“We hope the court will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” said the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is received personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his sentence. He was first given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was displayed visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that woman.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds gathered to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you consent? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is possibly in the process of that, possibly motivated by the societal understanding brought by the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete disturbing cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him of home. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that once a year he sought commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had arthritis resulting from the pressure of the original case.